THROUGH ASIA 
52 
being harnessed to the tarantass. My joy was short-lived, 
however ; for before we got half-way to the next station 
the vehicle stuck fast in a salt marsh, and, in spite of 
our utmost exertions, could neither be dragged backwards 
nor forwards. The driver shouted and lashed with his 
whip, the horses flung out, and stumbled, and broke 
their traces. But it was all no use. The driver had to 
unharness one of them, and ride back to the station for 
help. 
After a couple of hours’ waiting in the rain, wind, 
and darkness, wondering whether the wolves would come 
and pay me a visit, I was joined by a couple of Kirghiz, 
who harnessed two fresh horses in front of the troika, 
thus making a patyoi'ka, or team of five. Their united 
exertions at length succeeded in e.xtricating the vehicle 
from its sandy bed, into which it had sunk deeper and 
deeper. When at last we got under way again, and 
rolled off across the steppe, large cakes of wet sand and 
clay hung dripping from the wheels. 
At Yunyskaya, the last station before we reached the 
Syr-daria, I stopped a while during' the night of the 
24th ; but as I was drinking my tea, a violent buran 
(snowstorm) came on, smothering everything in fine 
driving snow. The tarantass was covered over with 
tarpaulins, and there was no alternative but to wait till 
daybreak. The road was so bad the last two stages 
before reaching Kazalinsk, that I was obliged to drive 
after the patyorka or team of five, and engage an extra 
man to ride on the near leader. 
Kazalinsk stands on the right bank of the Syr-daria, 
no miles by river, and 50 miles by road, from Lake 
Aral. It consisted of 600 hou.ses, of which 200 were in- 
habited by Russians, and had 3500 inhabitants, of whom 
1000 (their families included) were Ural Cossacks. The 
rest of the population was made up of Sarts, Bokharans, 
Tatars, Kirghiz, and a few Jews. The richest merchants 
were natives of Bokhara ; the Kirghiz, on the other hand, 
being poor. Their more wealthy kinsmen live on the 
steppe, and derive their riches from their herds. In 
